Apple launching sidelong attacks against Google with new lawsuits in US

Apple has filed two new lawsuits in the US: one targeting the Samsung Galaxy …

Apple is once again circling back to the US in its legal patent squabbles. The company has filed a new infringement suit against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus covering four features of the Android 4 operating system, and another lawsuit against Motorola over Motorola's legal actions against Apple in Germany. Given Google's imminent acquisition of Motorola, both suits constitute a home-turf blow at Google and its mobile business.

The suit against the Galaxy Nexus covers four patents that Apple has filed for, three of which were filed in the last few months. The first, older patent covers ways for the OS to mark up content in one context, like phone numbers in an e-mail, and open a new app from that content, like a phone application by clicking on the phone number. Apple successfully sued HTC for using this functionality in its phones in December 2011. The remaining three patents relate to Siri and the OS's use of unified search, the use of slide-to-unlock, and word completion for text entry, respectively.

The strangest thing about the case is the target: a single phone, and not either of the companies involved in making it. Still, the suit is a closer strike at Google than Samsung, since the patents deal with software features that will, for the most part, extend to every phone with Android 4.

The second lawsuit is a continuation of Apple and Motorola's slapfight in Germany, where Motorola asked that Apple pay a 2.25 percent royalty on each iPhone and iPad sold for use of Motorola's 3G-related patents. A judge in Germany ruled in Apple's favor. Now Apple is suing Motorola in the US over the 3G patents, as noted by Reuters, claiming that Motorola's actions in Germany violated one of Motorola's patent licensing agreements with Qualcomm. Apple claims that as a customer of Qualcomm (its chips are inside the iPhone 4S), the company is a third-party beneficiary of the Motorola-Qualcomm agreement, so Motorola shouldn't be allowed to sue Apple over the relevant 3G materials.

The suit against the Galaxy Nexus covers four patents that Apple has filed for, three of which were filed in the last few months.

Stupid question, if these were filed after the nexus prime was created, wouldn't the nexus prime itself invalidate them as prior art? Or were these not really filed but rather granted in the last few months?

The iPhone is so unbelievably inferior to the Galaxy Nexus, it's no wonder that Apple is suing to prevent competing with it.

SlightlyAmiss wrote:

Microsoft sues over patents for companies not licensing the technology.Apple sues over patents to try and kill competitors.Google actually tries to advance their mobile OS.Apple plans out boring iterations of their mobile OS years in advance.

The iPhone is so unbelievably inferior to the Galaxy Nexus, it's no wonder that Apple is suing to prevent competing with it.

SlightlyAmiss wrote:

Microsoft sues over patents for companies not licensing the technology.Apple sues over patents to try and kill competitors.Google actually tries to advance their mobile OS.Apple plans out boring iterations of their mobile OS years in advance.

I think it was utterly moronic for Motorola to sue Apple using FRAND patents. They should have known that was going to turn out bad. Motorola was obviously fighting a proxy war for Google, and such blatant wrongful litigation probably pissed off Apple to no end.

The gloves are off and this is only going to get nastier. This has turned into a blood feud.

This is the type of stuff that pisses me off enough to punch the next apple fanboy I meet in the face.

Yes, I mad.

So you think it's bad to sue someone for intelectual property, but punching a stranger in the face is perfectly OK?

Grow up.

Its bad to patent something for the sole purpose of just sue your competition out of existence to favor your product, which is what Apple is doing here. And Apple fanboys think this perfectly acceptable and promote this kind of idiocy from Apple.

And you are the one who needs to grow up if you actually believe this is just a mere case of IP infringement.

This is the type of stuff that pisses me off enough to punch the next apple fanboy I meet in the face.

Yes, I mad.

So you think it's bad to sue someone for intelectual property, but punching a stranger in the face is perfectly OK?

Grow up.

Its bad to patent something for the sole purpose of just sue your competition out of existence to favor your product, which is what Apple is doing here. And Apple fanboys think this perfectly acceptable and promote this kind of idiocy from Apple.

And you are the one who needs to grow up if you actually believe this is just a mere case of IP infringement.

They patented the things in question because they were original ideas. You seem to think it's okay for other companies to steal whatever they want from Apple because you seem to be coming from the place of utter irrationality. Suing Apple using fucking FRAND patents is about as troll-like as it fucking gets.

They patented the things in question because they were original ideas. You seem to think it's okay for other companies to steal whatever they want from Apple because you seem to be coming from the place of utter irrationality. Suing Apple using fucking FRAND patents is about as troll-like as it fucking gets.

Original ideas Slide-to-unlock, highlight links and phone numbers in emails?. Really?. I guess you come from Appleland, then.

I think Apple is doing this to get back at Schmidt for being on the board during the iPhone's development - not out of fear. The Android business model sucks and frankly so do their comically large phones. Samsung can't innovate to save their lives and Google is becoming the synonym for hypocrisy. Soon all the IP theft Google enjoys will come home to roost (see Oracle and HTC ITC injunction).

This is the type of stuff that pisses me off enough to punch the next apple fanboy I meet in the face.

Yes, I mad.

Jesus Christ, do you own stock in Google or something. You're WAY too vested in this shit otherwise.

That's what I call full on Droid rage. Thanks so much for contributing to the conversation. How 'bout going away now.

No I don't, but Apple's current attitude is going to end up fucking up and stagnating the development of OS's and thats what pisses me off.

You know who Apple (or anyone else that springs to mind either, tho I could be wrong) has never sued? Microsoft. You know why? Because their operating is new. To think that iOS is the only way to do an operating system is ludicrious. And to think that Android is not a full-on clone of iOS is really silly.

Swipe to unlock. All the others. Most of the things that Apple is suing over are things that existed in their OS since before Android even existed. Maybe Google could come up with something NEW!?

Original ideas Slide-to-unlock, highlight links and phone numbers in emails?. Really?. I guess you come from Appleland, then.

Help me understand, were these not Apple's inventions? Or do you think that these aren't patent worthy? For slide-to-unlock, I think Apple both invented it and it's patent-worthy. It was an innovative solution to a real problem.

You know who Apple (or anyone else that springs to mind either, tho I could be wrong) has never sued? Microsoft. You know why? Because their operating is new. To think that iOS is the only way to do an operating system is ludicrious. And to think that Android is not a full-on clone of iOS is really silly.

Swipe to unlock. All the others. Most of the things that Apple is suing over are things that existed in their OS since before Android even existed. Maybe Google could come up with something NEW!?

Right, and WP7 has nothing that infringes on apple's patents like their realtime api patent, the highlighting of numbers in email invention, the scrolling heuristic patent, the "multi-touch" patents.

Original ideas Slide-to-unlock, highlight links and phone numbers in emails?. Really?. I guess you come from Appleland, then.

Help me understand, were these not Apple's inventions? Or do you think that these aren't patent worthy? For slide-to-unlock, I think Apple both invented it and it's patent-worthy. It was an innovative solution to a real problem.

It's a software implementation of a slide to lock switch. So no, they don't deserve it. For that matter, they also weren't the first to use it, and Samsung will more than likely use that phone that had similar functionality.

Apple has a great opportunity to crush Motorola's patent lawsuits via a breach of contract lawsuit by Apple.

Apple is using hard patents - i.e. non-soft designed based patents - on its new lawsuits against Google. These patents can be worked around by Google - which is what Apple wants.

Innovation = Inventing something new that does not violate existing patents (which are older inventions protected by law).

==================================================

Well Apple is abusing Intellectual Property and the patent system by filing trivial patents on software and gestures in an attempt to sue open source out of the marketplace. What's so despicable about Apple's behavior is that they rely on open source software. Yep other people intellectual property. Using trivial software-patents that should have never been applied for and should have never been granted to eliminate competition in the marketplace is a despicable egregious practice and that is the real story here. Software is already protected by copyright laws and should not be patented. Even Microsoft said that if software patents existed when they were growing they would not have been what they are today. Software patents are evil and tech companies that file for software patents and sue world + dog over such patents in an attempt to drive others from the marketplace are evil at their core. Worse if they have no problem taking the ideas of others and calling claiming credit.

You know who Apple (or anyone else that springs to mind either, tho I could be wrong) has never sued? Microsoft. You know why? Because their operating is new. To think that iOS is the only way to do an operating system is ludicrious. And to think that Android is not a full-on clone of iOS is really silly.

Swipe to unlock. All the others. Most of the things that Apple is suing over are things that existed in their OS since before Android even existed. Maybe Google could come up with something NEW!?

Right, and WP7 has nothing that infringes on apple's patents like their realtime api patent, the highlighting of numbers in email invention, the scrolling heuristic patent, the "multi-touch" patents.

I will admit that I'm not up on every single patent being used by ever single OS/hardware manufacturer. I thought MS had done a work-around on the multi-touch thing.

This is the type of stuff that pisses me off enough to punch the next apple fanboy I meet in the face.

Yes, I mad.

Jesus Christ, do you own stock in Google or something. You're WAY too vested in this shit otherwise.

That's what I call full on Droid rage. Thanks so much for contributing to the conversation. How 'bout going away now.

No I don't, but Apple's current attitude is going to end up fucking up and stagnating the development of OS's and thats what pisses me off.

You know who Apple (or anyone else that springs to mind either, tho I could be wrong) has never sued? Microsoft. You know why? Because their operating is new. To think that iOS is the only way to do an operating system is ludicrious. And to think that Android is not a full-on clone of iOS is really silly.

Swipe to unlock. All the others. Most of the things that Apple is suing over are things that existed in their OS since before Android even existed. Maybe Google could come up with something NEW!?

I've come to the conclusion that usually, those who claim that Android is a clone of iOS usually tend to be hardcore Apple followers.

If all that is "apple's innovation" and they are so worried about it how come they don't bother to sue Nokia as much as they sue anything Google or Samsung over their Symbian S60 platforms?.Heck, the old Nokia 5800 probably is as much of a clone of the iPhone as any Android handset according to some of the retarded lawsuits Apple is pumping out.

Quote:

I will admit that I'm not up on every single patent being used by ever single OS/hardware manufacturer. I thought MS had done a work-around on the multi-touch thing

And how exactly would anyone get around the multi-touch issue, short of making it so complicated that people end up finding the phone unatractive?.

Apple has a great opportunity to crush Motorola's patent lawsuits via a breach of contract lawsuit by Apple.

Apple is using hard patents - i.e. non-soft designed based patents - on its new lawsuits against Google. These patents can be worked around by Google - which is what Apple wants.

Innovation = Inventing something new that does not violate existing patents (which are older inventions protected by law).

==================================================

Well Apple is abusing Intellectual Property and the patent system by filing trivial patents on software and gestures in an attempt to sue open source out of the marketplace. What's so despicable about Apple's behavior is that they rely on open source software. Yep other people intellectual property. Using trivial software-patents that should have never been applied for and should have never been granted to eliminate competition in the marketplace is a despicable egregious practice and that is the real story here. Software is already protected by copyright laws and should not be patented. Even Microsoft said that if software patents existed when they were growing they would not have been what they are today. Software patents are evil and tech companies that file for software patents and sue world + dog over such patents in an attempt to drive others from the marketplace are evil at their core. Worse if they have no problem taking the ideas of others and calling claiming credit.

I would have a tendency to agree with everything you just wrote about software patents. If I ever had the cash and inclination to start any sort of software company, I'd have to think really hard about whether I had the stomach to enter the current war zone.

But no one is ever going to convince me that suing using FRAND patents isn't out-and-out utter bullshit. This current round of lawsuits from Apple is nothing but a tit-for-tat reaction. Like I mentioned in a previous comment, this has turned into all-out war.

You know who Apple (or anyone else that springs to mind either, tho I could be wrong) has never sued? Microsoft. You know why? Because their operating is new. To think that iOS is the only way to do an operating system is ludicrious. And to think that Android is not a full-on clone of iOS is really silly.

Swipe to unlock. All the others. Most of the things that Apple is suing over are things that existed in their OS since before Android even existed. Maybe Google could come up with something NEW!?

Right, and WP7 has nothing that infringes on apple's patents like their realtime api patent, the highlighting of numbers in email invention, the scrolling heuristic patent, the "multi-touch" patents.

I will admit that I'm not up on every single patent being used by ever single OS/hardware manufacturer. I thought MS had done a work-around on the multi-touch thing.

Who knows, as the actual implementation is never defined in the patent, aka, the heuristic used. I can't use the patent to actually build the feature described therein, which is why the vast majority of today's patents, apple or otherwise, are bull shit.

I mean, apple was granted a patent on the functionality of how rock band analyzes your voice during a song, you know, how it provides real time feedback on how well your voice matches the source. Should that have been granted? No, but it just goes to show how messed up the system is.